Thursday, December 27, 2012

Ways to be indispensable at work!

The New Year is, for many, a time of change and resolutions. Be
thinner! Be richer! Meet the love of your life!

For others, our hopes and dreams are more measurable.
Whether it’s a 10% pay raise you’re after or moving one step closer to
the corner office, forget job-hopping. In 2013, staying put and amping
up your performance at work is the way to make it happen.

“The prevailing wisdom has been that to get ahead, you should
learn something from one company and move on—and up—at the next,” says Brian
Kropp, a managing director at CEB, an executive advisory firmwhich offers data
analysis of more than 50,000 employee surveys from 10,000 organizations. “But
that only produces short-term effects. In the new workplace we’re seeing
greater emphasis on relationships,” he says, which means veteran employees are
at a far greater advantage. According to CEB research, longer-tenured workers are beginning to rise to positions of
success more quickly than those who move every few years.

So what does this mean for 2013 career resolutions? Ditch the job
boards and set to work making yourself an indispensable employee.

“Being indispensable is about being the best,” says Lucy Leske,
Vice President and Co-Director,Education Practice at theexecutive search firm,
Witt/Kieffer. “If you’re always striving to be a better, more
valuable contributor, people will inevitably take note and you will get ahead.”

Without further pontification, seven simple strategies to becoming
indispensable in 2013.

Be Flexible

“The odds are that the way you’ll do work on January 1st won’t be the way you’ll be doing work on
December 31st,” says Kropp. According to CEBresearch, more
than 50% of employees say they have experiences “significant change” at work in
the past 12 months, from reorganizations to new workflows to massive layoffs.
“Make sure that your boss sees you are someone who can get the job done no
matter what’s happening around you.”

Stay Current

“If you’re not regularly reading about industry trends in trade,
business and general publications, checking out online sources and staying
current on trends in your industry, you’re compromising your career growth,”
says Leske. “Keeping up on trends, but more importantly, being able to apply
those trends to your organization, demonstrates your understanding if its place
within the industry.”

Don’t Be A Loner

In the new workplace, 40% of employees work with more than 20
people on a given day, and more than 80% work with 10 according to CEBresearch.
“The idea that you can be an individual contributor and be successful is an
idea of the past,” says Kropp. “Fitting within the network of the workplace is
a part of the new definition of a great employee.”

Be A Thought Leader

All of that knowledge you’ve gained by reading up on the industry?
Leske says to make a habit of sharing it. “Write articles, make presentations,
serve on panels or blog,” she says. “People need to have confidence in you that
you know what you’re doing and that you’re willing to use it to help other
peoples’ problems.”

Prioritize

“It’s really easy to add more things to your to-do list but just
as critical—if not more so—to know what to take off,” says Kropp. It’s no
secret that work can be an overwhelming place, particularly in a post-recession
environment where Kropp says the number of direct reports answering to any
given manager has increased by an average of 50% in the past five years. Good
decision making, delegating and prioritization are the signs of an effective
leader, no matter your position within the organizational matriSeek Opportunities For Management Experience

Speaking of managers, Leske advises that you actively pursue any
opportunity for managing employees, no matter how small and trivial (or large
and daunting) the task may seem. “There’s a difference between begging for
these opportunities and raising your hand,” she warns, “but if someone says
there’s a job to be done, raise your hand first and ask for help later. The
biggest mistake is passing up the opportunity.”

Make Friends With The IT Guy

The average number of work-related emails we receive each day has increased
fourfold since 2005, underscoring the explosive importance of technology in the
office. This makes the IT department not just a vital team in the workforce,
but an essential ally to any employee reaching for success as with their help
you can avoid unnecessary downtime due to tech failures.

But Kropp adds that it isn’t just the IT team who have become
increasingly important within the workplace. “Making friends with admins is an
important move as well,” he says. As workflows have changed in the workplace of
2013 CEB reports that power, authority and decision making is cropping up in
some unexpected places. “The administrative assistant of the CEO decides what’s
on his or her schedule,” he points out. Underestimating their authority—or
missing the opportunity to develop a strong relationship with that person is a
judgment lapse no indispensable employee would miss.

What’s your workplace resolution? Need any advice to make it
happen? Let me know and I’ll get to the bottom of it over the holidays.